Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-01-05
THE STATE LEGIsLATURE.
SYNOPSIS OF THE ACTS OF. GENERAL
AND LOCAL INTEREST,".

An Exhaustive and Interesting Review, by
Senator Black, of the Work Of the Gener-
al Assembly.
Correspondence of the Yorkutlle Ehquirer.]
BLACKS, S. c., January 3.
EDITOR OF THE ENQUIRER: According to
your request, will make the best effort can
to give your readers brief synopsis of the
work done by the General Assembly during the
session just closed. AS have said on previous
similar OCCASIONS any synopsis of the Acts
must necessarily be imperfect, and in matters
of detail inaccurate, owing to the fact that many
amendments are made to the bills after they are
printed, and for which have to trust my mem
Ory entirely.
There were in all one hundred and forty one
Acts passed. OF these twenty nine were gener-
al Acts thirty relate to county matters; six
teen to railroads; twelve to municipal charters
twenty to miscellaneous charters; seven to
stock law exemptions two to constitutional
amendments four relate to the regulation Of the
sale of liquors, and six are of a miscellaneous
character.
ACTS OF A GENERAL CHARACTER.
Among the most important Acts of general
character are the following:
An "Act to provide for transporting persons
convicted to the Penitentiary by the penitentia-
ry guard" This Act makes it the duty of the
clerk of the court, Immediately after the ad-
journment of the Court of General Sessions, to
notify the superintendent of the penitentiary OF
The number ofpersons sentenced to imprlson-
ment therein, and provides that the superinten-
dent of the penitentiary shall send suitable
number of guards to convey said convicts to the
penitentiary at the expense of the State. This
IA 70 e. Oh cogty @ rs Fhe amount expended
by York county was about $3.50 last year.
An "Act to regulate the time for collecting
taxes by execution or distress" This Act pro-
hibits county treasdrers from proceeding to col
lect delinquent taxes by execution or distress
until ten days after the addition Of the 15 per
cent penalty, so that the delinquent taxpayers
shall have an opportunity within such time to
pay the taxes and penalty without additional
costs or expenses
An "Act TO regulate the issuing and service of
warrants in criminal cases." This act provides
that no Trial Justice shall permit a constable to
swear out a warrant in any criminal case except
where the constable has been personally affect
ed by the offence charged, and prohibits trial
Justice from deputizing any person swearing out
a warrant in any case to serve the same.
An "Act to fix the fee for dieting prisoners
in county jjails" This act fixes the fee for diet
ing prisoners in county jails at thirty cents per
day. AS see in several of the newspapers pub
lished in the State, unfavorable comments on the
action of the Legislature in reducing the fee
for dieting prisoners in Jail from thirty-tive to
thirty cents per day, claiming that 1t Will work
an injustice and hardship toward the sheriffs of
the State, it may not be amiss to show some
facts sustaining the action of the General AS
sembly in passing this bill. The superintendent
of the State penitentiary shows, in his annual
report for the past fiscal year. that the entire eX
penses of the institution, including cost of ma
terial used in the penitentiary, medicines ana
smedical attendance, wages of guards and fore
men, and other charges, amount to 2ls cents
per capita per day. The annual report of the
superintendent of that noble charity, the South
Carolina lunatic asylum, where those unfortun:,
ate people are provided with every comfort and
amusement that can be devised for their benefit
and pleasure, shows that it costs the State only
335 cents per capita per day. and upon these
grounds the Legislature thought there was suf-
ficient margin in 80 cents per day for feeding
prisoners in jails.
An .'Act to amend sections 1899 and 1342 of the
General Statutes relating to hawkers and ped
dlers" Section of this Act so amends Section
1889 Of the General Statutes as to authorize the
clerk of the court for each county to issue a
license to hawkers and peddlers to be available
within the limits of his county and to be of
force for one year, and fixes the charge for such
license at one hundred dollars, to be paid to the
county treasurer for the use of the county. Sec
ton 2 of this Act amends Section 1912 Of the Gen
era Statutes as to provide that no license shall
be required of any vender of fruits, maps, news
provisions Of any kind, or agricultural products,
or to sales by samples by persons travelling for
established commercial houses, or to sales OF
staple articles manufactured in this State.
think this law, if rigidly enforced, will prevent
many of our people being swindled by itinerant
pedders and who carry out of our State annu-
ally large sums of money for which in many
cases they leave no equivalent.
"a Joint Resolution to extend the time for
the payment of taxes for the fiscal year COM
mencing November lst, 1886" This Joint Reso-
luton extends the time for the payment of taxes
without penalty, and directs the Comptroller
General, where penalties have been imposed for
non-payment, to remit the same
- thn f~nnn f1y1G
and to provide for the control of the same"
There are in the treasury Of the State, various
sums of money arising from various sources
that is to say, Funds OF the sinking fund COM
mission, SAG, ,66718; United States direct tax re-
funded, S39,2H.39; interest appropriated for
bonds not yet funded, SlS6, 10000; making to-
tai of S27l 9ll.57. 1t being desirable that in the
future no collection of taxes shall be made In
the Spring, but made at the end OF the fiscal
year. which is in the Fall, and if no collection be
made in the Spring provision must be made to
meet the interest on the bonded debt OF the State
and the salaries and other expenses OF the State
Government, the State treasurer is directed.
when there are no other funds in the State treas
ury, to use this fund for the purposes before
named, replacing the amount paid out from the
taxes when paid in.
An "Act to amend an Act entitled An Act to
amend Section 1880 of the General Statutes in re-
lation to partition This amends the Section
above referred to by adding proyiso that moth
ing contained in that Section shall be construed
to affect the power of the Court of Common Pleas
to dispense with the issuing OF writ in cases
where, in the judgment of the Court, it would
involve unnecessary expense to issue the same,
and gives the Court the power without recourse
to said writ to determine by means Of testimony
taken before the proper officer and reported to
the Court whether a partition in kind among the
parties be practicable or eXpedlent, ahd IN cases
where partition in kind cannot be fairly and
equally made, to order a sale Of the property and
division of the proceeds, according to the rights
of the parties.
An"Act to amend an Act entitled An Act to reg
ulate the admission of foreign surety companies
to do business in this State.' This simply pro-
vides that the Act, of which this Actis amenda-
tory shall not apply to surety companies so far as
their giving surety for clerks and officers of
Banks and banking institutions and railway
companies is concerned.
An "Act to punish the stealing of melons
fruits" This Act makes it misdemeanor to
steal melons or fruits, whether severed from the
freehold or not and punishable by imprison-
ment for not more than 80 days, or by a fine of
not more than fifty dollars.
An "Act to amend Section 4Sl of the General
Statutes in reference to the salary OF the leuten-
ant-Governor." This Act reduces the salary of
the Lieutenant-Governo from 81 300 per an
mum to double the per diem of member
Of the Legislature during the session. This
would make his salary about $500. The only
duty the Leutenant-Governorh has to perform,
except in case of the disability of the Governor,
An''Act to amend Section 6ls, General Statutes,
relating TO repair or highways: MS dlIiclivis
Section 6lS so as to make 1t provide that the
county commissioners shall take charge of and
superintend the repair of the highways; that the
bridges shall be repaired under their s1pervis,
ion that the expenses ofthe same shall be paid
out of the money in the treasury raised and ap-
propriated for this purpose and all the work on
the bridges, the cost Of which shall exceed ten
dollars, shall be done by contract. When the
amount exceeds one hundred dollars the county
commissioners are required to advertise in at